Montreal Startupfest is just wrapped couple of days back where many startups and entrepreneurs pitched in with their ideas and startups. There was one awesome guy who was the highlight of the event is Willie G or Big Willie G (pitching for his startup Party on Demand). Now, why he was the talk of the fest, you will know after seeing his pitch in the below video.
Watched it!! What do you say? He stole the show and the cheers he received after his 3 minutes pitch was amazing and few people even stood up to clap for him. While we wish him best to get success, we want to walkthrough our readers through 3 vital lessons from Big Willie G’s Startupfest pitch. Here they are –
STORYTELLING IS IMPORTANT IN YOUR STARTUP PITCH
Willie’s pitch started with “Ahhhhhhh”. Although it might irritate a few, but it was intentional to describe the frustration of a person whose is tangled with party planning and things are completed messed up with so much to plan. Willie G’s storytelling was right on spot, explaining the actual problem faced by people while planning a party. When you are preparing your pitch, ensure that you are explaining the customer’s problem with a good story. Stories help you connect your idea with the audience with an emotional value and helps you get right attention.
SHOW YOUR ENERGY
Millions of claps for Big Willie G, for his amazing energy on stage. Some might call it acting like a salesman. Then, what’s wrong in it – you are selling your idea to people and investors. Never shy away to show your passion and energy towards your idea and business. While pitching, you are the only person representing your company and you should own the stage for the scheduled 3-4 minutes. The 3-4 minutes are your time completely, as none of the speakers/investors or audience will ever question you until you complete your pitch. Big Willie was literally dancing few steps on the stage and his words are completely in sync with his body. Ensure what you are saying and how your gesturing during your pitch are in proper sync.
PRACTICE YOUR ACT
Practice!! Practice!! Practice!!
You may assume Big Willie is an energized personality and he has this salesman quality. So, it is quite easy for a personality like him to pull this performance. No, it is not. Willie has been improvising the pitch for every pitch and it keeps on improving with lots of practice. See this below video where he pitched Party on Demand within 1 minute and won as well; just 3 months back.
If you have observed the Startupfest pitch closely – you may see his presentation slides are quite in sync with what was he saying and you might not know when he was looking at his slides. This needs a lot of practice itself – as when you pitching you are addressing the audience. While pitching, if you will look at your slides and try to read – it puts a negative impression of lack of preparation. So practice yourself as much as required, so when you pitch – it should feel like you have absorbed the whole script word-by-word.
We hope these lessons will be helpful for you in your next Investor pitch. Thank you.
